Powerball winner ‘kept counting the number of zeroes’ when he saw balance in account

A 63-year-old Powerball winner ignored an email he received from the Illinois Lottery, until he saw a huge balance in his online account.

Leslie Merrell, of Woodhaven, used winnings from online instant games to purchase a couple Powerball tickets ahead of the Oct. 21 drawing, lottery officials said in a Nov. 27 news release.

His life changed the next morning.

“I saw an email from the lottery, but I didn’t think much of it,” Merrell told lottery officials. “I logged into my account to check my tickets and when I saw my account balance, I kept counting the number of zeroes, thinking: ‘Is this real?!’”

Merrell had won a $50,000 prize, which multiplied to $100,000 because he selected the Power Play option. He matched four of the five white balls — 01-25-57-62-64 — and the Powerball number 15, officials said.

He was one of seven players who won at least $100,000 in the Oct. 21 Powerball drawing, including $1 million winners in Florida and Texas. The estimated jackpot of $456 million went unclaimed.

Lottery officials said Merrell plans to use his winnings to “complete some home improvements, take a trip out west, and then save the remainder for retirement.”

Woodhaven is about a 25-mile drive southwest from Detroit.

What to know about Powerball

To score the jackpot in the Powerball, a player must match all five white balls and the red Powerball.

The odds of scoring the jackpot prize are 1 in 292,201,338.

Tickets can be bought on the day of the drawing, but sales times and price vary by state.

Drawings are broadcast Saturdays, Mondays and Wednesdays at 10:59 p.m. ET and can be streamed online.

Powerball is played in 45 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

This story was originally published November 27, 2024 at 2:04 PM with the headline "Powerball winner ‘kept counting the number of zeroes’ when he saw balance in account."